Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US and Russian counterparts on ensuring the Syrian High Negotiations Committee is involved in drafting Syria’s new constitution.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has frequent discussions with his US counterpart about all aspects of the Syrian conflict including the involvement of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in the political process. Most recently they spoke at the G7 meeting in Hiroshima on 10-11 April. The UK also continues to engage with Russia, including through visits of senior officials to Moscow. These countries are active members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) which is committed to achieving a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict. Working alongside ISSG counterparts, we are supporting the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian negotiations currently underway in Geneva, where the HNC is representing the Opposition in negotiations on a political settlement. Discussions on a new Syrian constitution will need to take place in this forum.